No, Facebook Isn’t Reporting People Who Pose With Guns To US Authorties

No, Facebook Isn’t Reporting People Who Pose With Guns To US Authorties

Is Facebook really reporting people who post pictures of themselves with guns to the Department of Homeland Security? No. It’s just another case of a news “parody” site being mistaken as a legitimate new source.

As Snopes reports, this rumour started most recently with Empire News, a site with other completely fabricated articles like “Gas Prices To Top $US7 Per Gallon By Spring According to US Energy Information Administration” and “Sarah Palin Announces 2016 Run for Presidency”. You know… parody.

This fake story is spreading rather quickly among people concerned that the government is going to take away their guns. But the good people of social media can rest assured, Facebook is not trying to curtail your right to pose with whatever deadly tools that you please.

The article concocts fake quotes from Mark Zuckerberg, tying his new policy of sending photos to the Department of Homeland Security to a fictitious special request from the Obama administration:

“I added that line back in after 2009, when Obama took office. After he was elected, he came to me and asked for my help, saying that he wanted to ‘transform America,’ and he couldn’t do that until the country was disarmed,” said Zuckerberg. “This is a perfect way to find the gun nuts in this country, and keep a watch over them. I think the whole thing has been a huge success, and I for one can’t wait to live in a gun-free America.”

Um, OK. For whatever it’s worth, the real Zuckerberg expressed an interest in hunting back in 2011. Granted, you don’t necessarily need a gun to hunt. But it’s hard to imagine that Zuckerberg is some anti-gun fanatic looking to make the world free of firearms.

Bonus fun fact: Since President Obama has taken office, not a single federal bill limiting gun ownership has been passed. Not one.

There have been some gun bills passed at the state level recently, but the vast majority have been to ease restrictions on gun purchases, eliminate gun safety class requirements, and increase privacy for concealed-carry permit holders.

Picture: Photo provided by the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona showing gun owners with Santa Claus via AP

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